Automatic reciprocating action toy glider-kite string flyer

ABSTRACT

A folding wing toy glider is suspended from, and rides up a kite string, propelled by wind acting upon the vertical surface of the down-folded wing, until a latch is released by contacting a stop, allowing wing to fold horizontally and the airplane to descend kite string under the influence of gravity until it contacts a lower stop whereupon the plane&#39;&#39;s momentum operates a mechanism cranking the wing back to its original vertical position, whereupon the up-down cycle is repeated automatically, as long as desired.

United States Patent Inventor Willis R. Battles 560 So. Helberta Ave.,Redondo Beach, Calif. 90277 Appl. No. 6,979

Filed Jan. 28, 1970 Patented Aug. 3, 1971 AUTOMATIC RECIPROCATING ACTIONTOY GLlDER-KITE STRING FLYER 9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

rm. cl 7 B644: 31/06 Field of Search 244/155,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,208,697 9/1965 Bayha244/155 3,227,404 1/1966 Scharge 244/155 3,327,976 6/1967 Fregeau244/155 Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant ExaminerPaul E.Sauberer ABSTRACT: A folding wing toy glider is suspended from, andrides up a kite string, propelled by wind acting upon the verticalsurface of the down-folded wing, until a latch is released by contactinga stop, allowing wing to fold horizontally and the airplane to descendkite string under the influence of gravity until it contacts a lowerstop whereupon the planes momentum operates a mechanism cranking thewing back to its original vertical position, whereupon the up-down cycleis repeated automatically, as long as desired.

PATENTEUAUB 3:91: I

SHEET 1 UF 2 FIGURE FIGURE 2 INVENTCR ELAQQZ;

PAIENTEUAus sum SHEET 2 BF 2 FIGURE 3 FIGURE 4 AUTOMATIC RECIPROCATINGACTION TOY GLIDER- KITE STRING FLYER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Fieldof the Invention This invention relates to improvements in a device thatflies up and down a kite string and is particularly concerned with amechanism for causing this reciprocal up and down flight to take placerepeatedly and automatically, under the influence of the forces of windand gravity when the mechanism contacts stops at each end of the string.

2. Description of the Prior Art Kite string flyers have been known formany years. Most such devices have been used to release a parachute or atoy glider at an elevation near the kite. Many have employed alatch-tripping stop on the kite string for releasing the parachute orglider to float freely to earth while the kite string rider slid backdown the kite string to be manually adjusted again with another load totake aloft. Typical of such devices is the parachute carrier ofCutshall, U.S. Pat. No. 2,041,233 (1936) which uses a verticallydisposed wing, folding back to back upon release of a latch, releasingthe free-floating parachute and permitting the carrier to slide backdown the kite string, to be reset for another trip aloft. In the designof Cornell, U.S. Pat. No. 1,172,198 (1916), and that of Young, U.S. Pat.No. 2,833,497 (1958), after ascending the kite string, the wing foldsflat, parallel to the body of the carrier, thus simulating a glider orairplane gliding to earth on the kite string, and having more appeal tothe operator. These designs also require manual reset before anotherflight aloft. My invention represents an improvement on these devices,as follows. It combines free-floating parachute or glider launchingcapabilities of prior designs with the eye appeal of the simulatedairplane, as it descends the kite string. By proper adjustment of itscontrol tabs, it may be made to perform stunts as it descends, such aswingovers, or banking with one wing low. In addition, my mechanismprovides for automatic reset of the wing for another trip aloft withoutmanual adjustment. This feature permits long distance "hands-oi?" racesof many laps up and down the kite string by several operators, addinggreatly to the appeal of my flyer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Features and advantages of the device includethe fact that the chord of the wing of the airplane is mounted at rightangles, near its center, in a radial slot of a disc; the disc ispivotally mounted at its center to the side of the glider body; as thedisc pivots about its center, the chord of the glider wing assumes anattitude essentially horizontal, or vertical, as the disc pivots 90; theedge of the disc is notched to receivev a latch pin fastened to thegliders body; the latch holds the disc positioned so that the wing isvertical for up-string flight; upon contacting a stop near the kite, thelatch is released, allowing the disc to pivot and the wing to fold backhorizontally, propelled by wind pressure; the disc also contains anoffcenter pin, acting as a crank, with this crank fastened to arodprojecting ahead of the downward-descending plane so that when thisrod contacts the bottom stop, the planes momentum causes the disc to becranked around 90, until the wing chord is again vertical, whereupon thespring-loaded latch pin catches in the disc-edge notch and the plane isready for another trip aloft without manual adjustment. If wingoverstunts are desired, the counterbalance-wing tabs may be bent in oppositedirections and the vertically slidable weight raised to its upperposition. The glider will then descend in wingovers after the nextflight aloft. A free-falling parachute or glider may be sent aloft bybooking a tether from the object to the hook on the glider's wing, withwing in the vertical position for up-string flight. When wing foldshorizontally at top of string the tethered object is released to floatfreely to earth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The device is described in detail inreference to drawings as follows:

FIG. 1 is a three-quarter pictorial view of a kite string gliderembodying the principles of this invention showing the mechanism of thedisc with the functional accessories.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the kite string glider with the wing shownin profile releasabiy locked in the downward position vertical to thefuselage and the horizontal gliding position illustrated by brokenlines.

FIG. 3 is a top plan of the glider showing the means for releasablylocking the-disc and means for rotating the disc from the horizontalposition to the downward position.

FIG. 4 is a plan view drawn to an enlarged scale of the means forreleasably locking the disc in one of two positions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The fuselage structure 10 of thekite string glider is of light rigid construction comprising a block ofbalsa wood or other suitable material such as moulded plastic, havingsufficient depth and width to support and journal a disc axle 22 and thewing 40 as well as means 12 for releasably locking the disc 20 and otherfunctional accessories. The length of the fuselage 10 is optional butmay be determined by the overall. weight required of the glider to causeit to rapidly down the kite string.

The upper side of the fuselage carries two rings or eye hooks made ofsmooth plastic or steel 16 and 17. These are rigidly mounted at rightangles to the axis of the fuselage. One of these rings 16 is mounted inproximity to the nose of the fuselage and one 17 in proximity to thetail. Each ring or eye hook is split at a point near the mounting andthis space is filled by a small plug of sponge rubber or plastic 32 thatis easily compressed to allow a kite string 62 to he slipped into thering. The presence of the sponge rubber will prevent the kite string 62from jumping from the ring when the glider makes impact with the upper74 or lower 72 stop.

The wing structure 40 is a single sheet of lightweight material such asplastic or balsa wood, rectangular in shape and of sufficient size topropel the glider under the force of a light wind acting against thesurface. The wing 40 may have additional counterbalances 42 to increasethe surface area and assist in rotating the structure from a horizontalto a vertical position, but these are optional. These may be of easilybent metal to permit easy adjustment for aerial acrobatic maneuvers suchas wingovers.

Mounted at the leading edge 46 of the wing structure at a point. offsetfrom the center of the wing approximately onehalf the width of thefuselage is a disc 20 made of thin plastic or metal. The disc 20 isslotted a partial radius to receive the wing and is rigidly affixed tothe wingin this slot at right angles to the plane of the wing andparallel to the chord. The center 22 of the disc acts as the mountingfulcrum for rotatably'joining the wing and disc combination with thefuselage. Cut into the periphery of the disc are two slots 26 and onenotch 27 which are located at such a position that when the wing anddisc are joined to the fuselage, one of the slots 26 will be alignedwith the upper surface of the fuselage when the wing is in the verticalposition and alternately, the notch 27 will be aligned with the uppersurface of the fuselage when the wing is in the horizontal position. Theuse of two slots is preferred,

since it gives more certain latching action, the second slot catching incase the first. one is missed by the latch. The fuselage structure 10rotatably supports the axle 22 to which is affixed the center of thedisc and its attached wing 40.

The means for releasabiy locking the disc in one of two positionsalternately consists of a locking wire 14 slidably mounted on the dorsalside of the fuselage by means of two axially disposed guideblocks18.,(FIG. 3 and 4) which are firmly attached to the fuselage and soplaced to prevent the wire from assuming any position other thansubstantially parallel to the axis of the fuselage. The end of thelocking wire 14 positioned opposite the disk 20 isbent to a U-shape 12at a point where the terminal extension of the U-shape 13 may slide intoa slot 26 or bear tightly against the notch 27 on the disk 20 wheneither a slot or the notch is aligned with the dorsal surface of thefuselage. The extension of the wire U-shape holds its position with theassistance of a spring 15 or elastic band attached to the loop of theU-bend and also attached to the fuselage, and so placed as to applycontinuous tension to the loop. A slotted block 11 on the upper side ofthe fuselage guides the loop so that the terminal extension 13 of theU-shaped portion maintains the same position in respect to the disk 20and holds this U-shaped portion flat against the top surface of thefuselage. The opposite end of the locking wire 14 extends beyond thetail of the fuselage and is bent upward in a form 33 shaped like theletter M which straddles the kite string. The wire doubles back alongthe fuselage and passes through guides 35. This assures that thevertical form 33 retains its upright position straddling the kitestring. When contact is made with the upper kite string stop 74 a forceexerted on the vertical form 33 by stop 74 will move the wire 14 backagainst the tension of the spring 15 to a point where the U-extension 13of the wire is free of the slot 26 on the disk.

Loading means for rotating the disc 20 from the position whereby notch27 on the disc was releasably locked by the U- extension 13 of wire 14to that position whereby a slot 26 on the disc is releasably locked in asimilar manner and concurrently, and wing surface 40 is rotated from ahorizontal position to a vertical position with respect to the fuselage10, includes a reloading wire 34 slidably mounted on the disc side ofthe fuselage by two guides 36 and 37. The guides 36 and 37 are mountedforward of the axis 22 of the disc. The end of the wire toward the discis rotatably attached to a pin 23 by a loop in the wire or otherresilient coaction. The position of the pin 23 is offset from the axisof the disc at a point where the best mechanical advantage is availableto rotate the disc without interfering with the other components. Theopposite end of the reloading wire 34 extends beyond the nose of thefuselage and terminates in a form 31 shaped like the letter M whichstraddles but does not touch the kite string. This wire doubles backalong the far side of the fuselage and passes through guides 19 whichprevent dislodging the loop on impact with the lower kite string stop72.

An accessory has been added to improve the rotational movement of thewing from the vertical to the horizontal position and vice versa. Thewing is assisted to the horizontal position from the vertical on releaseby the locking means 12 by an elastic band 29 that is coupled between aloop 39 at the upper end of wire 38 above and forward of the leadingedge of the wing 46 and the wing at a point 48 adjacent the trailingedge. The elastic band has minimum effect on the return of the wing tothe vertical by inertia after impulse from the reloading wire 34 sinceit is so positioned that halfway through the rotation, the elastic bendsacross the leading edge of the wing 46 and loses its leverage.

Additional toys such as a parachute may be attached to a hook 44 whichis comprised of a short piece of wire rigidly mounted windward andslightly upward from perpendicular to the plane of the down-folded wing40 proximate to the trailing edge of the 'wing. When the wing is in thevertical position, the releasable toy will be supported by the hook. Onimpact of the bumper form 33 with kite string stop 74, the wing willrotate to the horizontal position and the toy will drop off. This is anadvantage over prior structures in that no new locking and releasemechanism is necessary for carrying additional objects. Instead,advantage is taken of the design function of the rotating wing surface.

An improvement over prior art to broaden the versatility of the toy is avertically slidsble weight 49 suspended beneath the fuselage by a lengthof spring wire 50 mounted perpendicular to the horizontal plane of thefuselage (FIG. 2). The open end of the wire is bent back and a jog 52impressed at the termination. The vertically slidable weight 49 may bepositioned either at the lower bend in the wire or at that point wherethe terminal jog 52 can be pressed parallel to the supporting wire andthe weight dropped over the jog. The effect of the weight positioned atthe lower bend in the wire is to stabilize the glider while the toy istransported up or down the kite string. When the weight is positionedwhere the terminal jog 52 can lock the weight 49 at a position moreproximate to the fuselage, the stability of the glider is reduced whenwings are folded back horizontally, raising the center of gravity, sothat a slight bend of counterbalances 42 will cause the glider to spiralabout the string as it descends.

in use, the kite is flown using a kite string of smooth material such asOrlon, nylon or silk. The glider is attached to the string by depressingsponge rubber 32 and slipping the rings 16 and 17 over the string. Thewing is placed in a vertical position by rotating it downward from thefuselage l0 and allowing the locking means 12 to snap into a slot 26 onthe disc. As the wind exerts force against the plane of the wing 40, theglider will slide up the string until the locking wire extension bumperform 33 strikes the upper stop 74. This unlocks the wing and it rotatesback to the horizontal position assisted by wind pressure and theelastic 29. The locking means 12 now drops into notch 27 which is veryshallow to allow the locking means to be easily disengaged. As theglider descends the kite string, it gains momentum rapidly and thebumper loop of the reloading wire 31 strikes the lower stop 72 withsufficient impact to force the wing into the vertical position aided bythe added momentum of the counterbalances 42. The locking means isdisengaged from notch 27 in disc 20 by the torque on the disc 20resulting from impact and drops into a slot 26 as the wing returns tothe vertical position whereby the cycle may again be repeated.

1 claim:

l. A toy glider designed to travel up and down a string such as a kitestring, comprising in combination a. a fuselage,

b. a member rotatably mounted about an axis transversely of saidfuselage at one side thereof and having angularly displaced notches in aperipheral portion thereof,

c. a wing structure attached to said member with the span axis in aposition substantially paralleling the axis of rotation of said member,

d. means for releasably engaging either one of the peripheral notches ofsaid member for holding said member and wing in either one of tworotative positions,

e. loading means operably responsive to a stop member on the kitestringfor rotating said member so that the wing structure may berotatably positioned from a horizontal position to a substantiallynormal position to said fuselage, and

f. attachments for mounting the glider on a string.

2. A toy glider as specified in claim 1 in which means for releasablyengaging the peripheral notches includes a locking member slidablymounted on said fuselage for movement longitudinally thereof,

said member being operably biased against the periphery of said memberrotatably mounted ad having a projection extending beyond the tail ofsaid fuselage for contacting a stop on the kite string and slidablydisengaging said locking member from one of said notches to release saidmember and enable said wing to rotate to the horizontal position.

3. A toy glider as specified in claim 1 in which loading means includesa loading member slidably mounted on said fuselage for movementlongitudinally thereof and linked pivotably to said rotatable member ata point offset from the axis of rotation and having a projectionextending beyond the nose of said fuselage for contacting a stop on thekite string to exert a rotative force on said member to disengage saidmeans from one of the notches to rotate said wing to the verticalposition.

4. A toy glider designed to travel up and down a string such as a kitestring, comprising notches in a peripheral portion thereof,

c. a wing structure attached to said member with the span axis in aposition substantially paralleling the axis of rotation of said member,

d. a locking member slidably mounted on said fuselage for movementlongitudinally thereof, said member biased against the periphery of themember rotatably mounted and having a projection beyond the tail of saidfuselage,

e. a loading member slidably mounted on said fuselage for movementlongitudinally thereof, linked pivotally to said rotatable member at apoint offset from said axis of rotatable member and having a projectionbeyond the nose of said fuselage operative on impact of the projectionwith a fixed stop mounted on said string for rotating said wingstructure to a downward position,

f. means responsive to a stop on the kite string for returning the wingfrom the downward to the horizontal flight position whereby the wing isrotatably biased toward the horizontal flight position, and

g. attachments for releasably mounting the glider on a string.

5. A toy glider as specified in claim 4 in which means for returning thewing from the downward position to the horizontal flight positionincludes a member anchored to the fuselage,

a resilient device secured to said member,

the opposing end of the resilient device secured at a point adjacent tothe top trailing edge of the wing for biasing said wing toward an upwardposition. 1

6. toy glider as specified in claim 4 in which attachments forreleasably mounting the glider on a string includes spaced ringsanchored to the dorsal side of the fuselage,

each ring having a gap proximate to the fuselage, and

said gap closed with a pad of resilient material attached to the base ofthe ring.

7. A toy glider as specified in claim 4 in which the wing structureincludes tab surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wingstructure,

said tabs mounted in the same plane as the wing structure,

and

bendable in any plane having the trailing edge of the wing in commonaxis to cause the glider to rotate during descent.

8. A toy glider as specified in claim 4 in which the wing structureincludes a member anchored to the lower surface of the wing,

said member having a free end terminating in a hook to releasablysupport additional toys.

9. A toy glider as specified in claim 4 in which an attachrnent to thefuselage includes a spring member anchored to the bottom of the fuselageand normal to the horizontal plane thereof,

supporting a vertically slidable weight,

said member having a free end bent back upon itself and terminating in ajog for releasably positioning the vertically slidable weight inproximity to the fuselage,

said weight falling free of the jog when the glider is inverted and saidweight dropping to the bend when the glider returns to the normal flightposition.

1. A toy glider designed to travel up and down a string such as a kitestring, comprising in combination a. a fuselage, b. a member rotatablymounted about an axis transversely of said fuselage at one side thereofand having angularly displaced notches in a peripheral portion thereof,c. a wing structure attached to said member with the span axis in aposition substantially paralleling the axis of rotation of said member,d. means for releasably engaging either one of the peripheral notches ofsaid member for holding said member and wing in either one of tworotative positions, e. loading means operably responsive to a stopmember on the kite string for rotating said member so that the wingstructure may be rotatably positioned from a horizontal position to asubstantially normal position to said fuselage, and f. attachments formounting the glider on a string.
 2. A toy glider as specified in claim 1in which means for releasably engaging the peripheral notches includes alocking member slidably mounted on said fuselage for movementlongitudinally thereof, said member being operably biased against theperiphery of said member rotatably mounted ad having a projectionextending beyond the tail of said fuselage for contacting a stop on thekite string and slidably disengaging said locking member from one ofsaid notches to release said member and enable said wing to rotate tothe horizontal position.
 3. A toy glider as specified in claim 1 inwhich loading means includes a loading member slidably mounted on saidfuselage for movement longitudinally thereof and linked pivotably tosaid rotatable member at a point offset from the axis of rotation andhaving a projection extending beyond the nose of said fuselage forcontacting a stop on the kite string to exert a rotative force on saidmember to disengage said means from one of the notches to rotate saidwing to the vertical position.
 4. A toy glider designed to travel up anddown a string such as a kite string, comprising a. a fuselage, b. amember rotatably mounted about an axis transversely of said fuselage atone side thereof and having displaced notches in a peripheral portionthereof, c. a wing structure attached to said member with the span axisin a position substantially paralleling the axis of rotation of saidmember, d. a locking member slidably mounted on said fuselage formovement longitudinally thereof, said member biased against theperiphery of the member rotatably mounted and having a projection beyondthe tail of said fuselage, e. a loading member slidably mounted on saidfuselage for movement longitudinally thereof, linked pivotally to saidrotatable member at a point offset from said axis of rotatable memberand having a projection beyond the nose of said fuselage operative onimpact of the projection with a fixed stop mounted on said string forrotating said wing structure to a downward position, f. means responsiveto a stop on the kite string for returning the wing from the downward tothe horizontal flight position whereby the wing is rotatably biasedtoward the horizontal flight position, and g. attachments for releasablymounting the glider on a string.
 5. A toy glider as specified in claim 4in which means for returning the wing from the downward position to thehorizontal flight position includes a member anchored to the fuselage, aresilient device secured to said member, the opposing end of theresilient device secured at a point adjacent to the top trailing edge ofthe wing for biasing said wing toward an upward position.
 6. A toyglider as specified in claim 4 in which attachments for releasablymounting the glider on a string includes spaced rings anchored to thedorsal side of the fuselage, each ring having a gap proximate to thefuselage, and said gap closed with a pad of resilient material attachedto the base of the ring.
 7. A toy glider as specified in claim 4 inwhich the wing structure includes tab surfaces attached to the trailingedge of the wing structure, said tabs mounted in the same plane as thewing structure, and bendable in any plane having the trailing edge ofthe wing in common axis to cause the glider to rotate during descent. 8.A toy glider as specified in claim 4 in which the wing structureincludes a member anchored to the lower surface of the wing, said memberhaving a free end terminating in a hook to releasably support additionaltoys.
 9. A toy glider as specified in claim 4 in which an attachmenT tothe fuselage includes a spring member anchored to the bottom of thefuselage and normal to the horizontal plane thereof, supporting avertically slidable weight, said member having a free end bent back uponitself and terminating in a jog for releasably positioning thevertically slidable weight in proximity to the fuselage, said weightfalling free of the jog when the glider is inverted and said weightdropping to the bend when the glider returns to the normal flightposition.